With the departure of junior center Joshua Smith, UCLA is down to eight scholarship players. But the news of Smith deciding to leave the program came too late for the people in charge of selecting a cover photo for the game program for Wednesday’s game against Cal State Northridge.

Since the programs are no doubt printed a few weeks in advance, there’s always a good chance the player gracing the cover is no longer a current member of the team.

According to Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo! Sports Smith’s departure is the 11th since the last of UCLA’s three consecutive trips to the Final Four in 2008. To say the least these haven’t been the most stable of times for Ben Howland and his program.

But with Smith gone the Bruins had to make the move that many have been clamoring for: going small and even playing some zone. Howland did both on Wednesday night, as Jordan Adams moved into the starting lineup and the Bruins began the game in a 2-3 zone.

They also played faster, as their 77 possessions was UCLA’s second-highest total (83 in their 80-79 overtime win over UC Irvine) of the season to date. UCLA did turn the ball over 16 times against the Matadors, breaking even in turnover margin, but they also shot 53.1% from the field and 26 of their 34 field goals were assisted.

Norman Powell scored 17 points off the bench to lead the way for UCLA, but the question as to whether or not they have enough interior depth to contend in the Pac-12 remains. To be fair freshman power forward Tony Parker is still dealing with an ankle injury and played just one minute last night and wore a protective boot while on the bench (why he even played that minute is a valid question given this fact).

Once Parker’s back to full strength UCLA will be able to go with an eight-man rotation, which should help them down the road against Pac-12 heavyweights such as Arizona, Colorado and California. Whether or not the Bruins actually contend will depend on how well the players adjust to their new style, as well as whether or not Howland sticks with it.

After a pair of Shabazz Muhammad free throws with just over 12 minutes remaining UCLA held a 51-33 lead on Cal Poly. And given the deliberate style of play that the Mustangs prefer, there surely was no way that the Bruins could lose.

But they did.

Joe Callero’s team got hot offensively, and when combined with the Bruins’ indifference on the defensive end of the floor the end result was the perfect storm that is Cal Poly’s 70-68 win at Pauley Pavilion.

The Mustangs made seven of nine three-pointers during their comeback with a Dylan Royer three tying the game at 63 with 3:23 remaining. But while many viewers may have held the belief that UCLA would find a way to salvage the win Cal Poly did not, and their composure proved to be the difference.

Following a Jordan Adams layup to tie the game at 68 UCLA guard Norman Powell made a mistake he won’t soon forget, losing track of time and score and fouling Kyle Odister. Yes, shades of what happened in this game back in 2009. Odister made both free throws and when Adams’ three-point attempt bounced off the rim as time expired the Mustangs had themselves a historic victory.

“It feels great,” Royer said to the Associated Press. “We have so much respect for this school, this program and this team. To be down [18 points] is a little discouraging, but we kept our heads up and we kept fighting. As we battled out the points and start to come back we got more confident and said, `Hey, we can do this.”‘

The majority of the stories written won’t focus on Cal Poly, however. They’ll be about a UCLA team that many thought would be OK once Shabazz Muhammad was cleared by the NCAA. Muhammad finished with 15 points and ten rebounds and Travis Wear added 14, but the same defensive issues that were apparent in their 78-70 loss to Georgetown last week were on display against the Mustangs.

Cal Poly shot 57.7% from the field and outscored UCLA in the paint 18-8 in the second half. In regards to that points in the paint discrepancy, who in the front court can Ben Howland trust right now? Josh Smith and Tony Parker combined to play just 12 minutes on Sunday night, with Travis Wear playing 34 minutes and Howland going with him at the five for long stretches (David Wear played 18 minutes).

Then there are the questions in regards to leadership and players understanding (and just as importantly accepting) their roles. The good news for UCLA is that it’s still November; they have time to figure out solutions to these issues before getting into Pac-12 play.

But do they have the “right” answers? Besides knowing that Tyler Lamb won’t be one of those solutions, it’s difficult to answer that question in the affirmative after Sunday’s result.

BROOKLYN – All things considered, Shabazz Muhammad didn’t play too badly in his first game as a collegian.

He finished with 15 points on 5-10 shooting in 25 minutes of action, although a couple of those buckets came in the final minute with the outcome, a 78-70 loss to Georgetown in the semifinals of the Legends Classic, all-but decided. He only grabbed one rebound, which is concerning given his strength and athleticism, and he was no where near the player that he needs to be on the defensive end of the floor. He was a long way from good, and he certainly didn’t come close to the reputation he had built for himself coming into the game.

This wass supposed to be a top three pick, mind you, and top three picks aren’t supposed to look as consistently over-matched as Muhammad did on both ends of the floor tonight.

And Muhammad will tell you the same thing.

“I can get a lot better. I didn’t play well tonight. I didn’t play well on defense,” Muhammad told reporters after the game.

That’s understandable. This was Muhammad’s first college basketball game after spending the past six months dealing with NCAA investigations into his time as a high schooler. He suffered a high-ankle sprain that kept him out for nine weeks over the summer. He didn’t practice with the team before they went to China. He didn’t go with the team to China. The first chance he had to practice was about a month ago, and in that time he’s dealt with a shoulder injury that kept him from being able to play, lift, or work on his conditioning for half that time.

He’s out of shape, out of sync with his teammates and, quite frankly, probably rusty.

And you thought he was going to come in here and look like James Harden did in his first game with the Rockets?

“It was really exciting getting out on the court for the first time,” Muhammad said when asked how he felt about his debut. “Just finally getting the jitters out and getting comfortable playing college basketball for the first time was a good experience.”

“I’m trying to get out here and gel with my teammates for the first time. My first college game, trying to get used to playing with all these players.”

It’s not like Muhammad is a piece getting plugged into an experienced team, either. Kyle Anderson is a freshman. Larry Drew II is a transfer that is playing for the first time in 20 months. Norman Powell is starting for the first time in his college career. Jordan Adams, who has scored at least 20 points in all four games as a collegian, is also a freshman.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Bruins have been dealt a bad hand when it comes to injuries. Muhammad has already dealt with ankle and shoulder issues. Kyle Anderson missed a couple months over the summer after thumb surgery. Tony Parker didn’t play on Monday due to a back issue. Tyler Lamb hasn’t returned to the court yet after getting surgery on his knee.

In other words, Muhammad isn’t the only one that needs to gel on this team.

It’s a group that doesn’t necessarily fit together perfectly with a coach who isn’t necessarily built to handle a team with their strengths. They were shredded defensively by Georgetown’s Princeton-style offense, which is not something you typically see from a Ben Howland-coached team. They looked lost offensively against Georgetown’s zone. They didn’t run the floor well at all. The 16 offensive rebounds they collected were nice, but the 60% Georgetown shot from the floor in the second half wasn’t.

“We are a team that is very young and we got hurt defensively,” Howland said. “They shot 55% from the game, 60% for the second half. Those two stats jump out.”

I spent the preseason doing nothing but send up warning flares that UCLA had dumpster fire potential written all over them.

And while I would love to take this time to revel in the fact that I was, once again, right, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that there were some positives to take out of this game.

First and foremost, Drew looks like a different player than they one that flamed out at North Carolina. He now has 33 assists and just six turnovers in 135 minutes this season. He got in the lane and created, he found shooters on the secondary break, he got the ball to his teammates where they needed it and when they needed it, and, most importantly, he did nothing dumb to hurt them. In the end, that’s all he really needs to do.

The other thing I liked was the way Howland used Anderson in the second half. There’s no question that Anderson is one of the more unique talents in the country, but asking him to be a primary ball-handler at this level is unfair. He’s not going to be blowing by players like Otto Porter and Greg Whittington off the dribble. Where he is effective, however, is as a playmaker out of the high post. When UCLA cut Georgetown’s lead to four in the second half, it’s because Anderson got them easy shot after easy shot against a 2-3 zone.

The Wears are capable up front, Josh Smith and Tony Parker can provide muscle when need be, and Muhammad, Adams and Powell provide as much scoring punch on the wing as you’ll find anywhere in the country.

There are still plenty of pieces that need to fall into place for this group.

But if you’re a UCLA fan, now is not the time to be selling off your season tickets, and judging them too harshly off of their first game with Muhammad in the fold is unfair.

ATLANTA – Keith Appling finished with 17 points and four assists in Friday’s season-opening loss to UConn on Ramstein Air Force base in Germany, but that solid stat-line does an impressive job of hiding the truth about his performance: Appling played far from his best game, failed to get Michigan State consistent quality shots down the stretch and was at the helm for an ugly offensive performance by the Spartans.

In simpler terms, the Spartans’ offensive struggles cost them a game against a team they had no business losing to, and as the point guard and first scoring option, much of the blame falls on Appling’s shoulders.

Judging any team based on a single performance, especially when that single performance comes on European soil, is wholeheartedly unfair. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop critics from wondering whether or not Michigan State was actually overrated this season. Appling was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school and entered last season with all kinds of expectations. Had he once again failed to improve his game? Was this just going to be another year made up of unfulfilled expectations, inconsistent perimeter shooting and too many turnovers?

It could be.

But after Tuesday’s performance, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Appling scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, while also adding three assists and three steals as No. 21 Michigan State overcame a second half deficit to knock off No. 7 Kansas 67-64. But, as they did against UConn, Appling’s numbers only tell half the story.

On seemingly every crucial possession, Tom Izzo put the ball in Appling’s hands. When Kansas pushed their lead to six early in the second half, Appling drew a foul on one possession and found Adreian Payne for a lob on the next. Three minutes later, after Kansas got the lead back up to seven, Appling scored on back-to-back tough drives to keep the Spartans within reach. He hit a three at the 6:55 mark to give Michigan State their first lead since the 6:27 mark of the first half.

Most importantly, however, were the plays Appling made in the final three minutes. He found Branden Dawson, who was fouled and hit both free throws, with 2:07 left to put the Spartans up 62-59. After two free throws form Elijah Johnson, Appling dribbled left off of a high ball-screen, froze the hedger Jeff Withey, and buried a three from the top of the key. And after Ben McLemore finished an and-one off of a foul-induced Appling turnover, Sparty’s new go-to guy dribbled off that same high-ball screen, drawing Withey out before blowing by him for an acrobatic layup.

That put Michigan State up 67-64 with 12 seconds left, ensuring that Kansas would need to hit a three to force overtime. They didn’t. Spartans win.

And all this happened with Appling and freshman counterpart Gary Harris playing a heavier-than-normal workload with back up point guard Travis Trice laid up with a broken nose and concussion. Impressive, indeed.

So what changed in Appling in the four days since the game in Germany?

“It was very, very well coached,” Tom Izzo said with a laugh after the game. “He did a great job of staying under control.”

“He’s a phenomenal athlete, but he’s started to make better and better decisions. He continues to work on it, and I think he’s fallen in love with the game a little bit more, too. He’s a guy that’s watched a little bit more film than he did last year and he’s starting to understand things. I’m proud of Keith, I really am.”

Appling’s decision-making will be the difference for Michigan State this season.

I like Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne, but I doubt that even Izzo believes that his big men are much more than rebounders and defenders at this point. They aren’t exactly Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Even Branden Dawson is more of an undersized four than he is a pure small forward at this point in his career.

The offense has to come from somewhere, which is what makes Appling so important.

It wasn’t just his play in the clutch on Tuesday night; Michigan State looked like a different team in the first half against Kansas than they did against UConn. There was movement offensively, they were scoring in transition, and, quite frankly, they looked like they had a clue at that end of the floor. That’s the benefit of Appling, the facilitator.

And it’s fine if he plays that role, because it means he’s embracing the idea of being a point guard.

So long as he doesn’t forget about his value as the closer in the clutch.

We’re eight hours in to Marathon Madness, and we’ve retained most of our sanity thus far. If you’re up for the challenge, there’s a basketball game on TV/your computer right now. Here’s what’s going on in today’s Morning Mix:

Top Stories:New Mexico outlasts Davidson in a shootout at The Pit: The Lobos and Wildcats engaged in an early season “Game of the Year” candidate at The Pit. Davidson got out to a large first half lead, but Kendall Williams and Tony Snell led the Lobos back, and Wildcats did not have the endurance to keep up the pace.

LIU-Brooklyn falls to 0-2: The Blackbirds are the reigning NEC champions and have the talent and experience to dominate inferior competition. But the squad struggled to defend in the first two games of the season, and the loss of head coach Jim Ferry is starting to show on the court

Youngstown State topples Georgia, moves to 2-0: The mighty Penguins of Youngstown State outclassed the Georgia Bulldogs 68-56 in the first round of the Progressive Legends Classic. With the win, YSU moves to 2-0, having defeated George Washington over the weekend.

Dayton keeps “First Four”, MSG gets regional site: The NCAA announced on Monday that Dayton will continue to serve host to the opening round until 2014-2015. additionally, Madison Square Garden will serve as a regional host for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 53 years.

Kentucky guard Ryan Harrow sick, will not travel for Champions Classic: Kentucky point guard Ryan Harrow, who struggled in the season-opener against Maryland, is battling the flu, and will not travel with the team to Atlanta for the Champions Classic. The Wildcats will have to rely on walk-on Jarrod Polson to handle the point against Duke, but the junior played admirably in the season-opener.

Observations & Analysis:
– Speaking of creative places to hold basketball games, here’s a solid list of ten places college hoops needs to go to next. (The College Court)

– Worst loss of the day goes to North Texas, who lost to Alabama-Huntsville (D-II) 78-75 in the opening round of the N.I.T. Preseason Tip-Off (The Dagger)